Reduce Air Pollution

Air pollution is a severe problem – one that we ignore at the risk of our health and our economy. Smog hangs heavy over Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, where children grow up with asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

Of particular concern is PM2.5(particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm) air pollution. In Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi’an, PM2.5 concentration levels in all four cities exceed World Heath Organisation (WHO) air quality guidelines. This means higher health risks to the cardiovascular system, cerebrovascular system and an increase in the probability of cancer and premature death.

And supposing if the four cities effectively controlled PM2.5 levels and had met WHO air quality guidelines in 2012, the number of premature deaths would have decreased by at least 81%, while the economic benefits of reducing these premature deaths in the four cities would amount to 875 million USD.

Greenpeace is one of the leading NGOs working on campaigns to reduce sources of air pollution in China.

The latest updates

4 February 2015, Beijing - Over a quarter of a million people in some of China’s major cities could have their lives cut short because of high levels of air pollution, unless authorities get to grip with the country’s smog crisis, a new study warns.

"One thing that fascinated and shocked me the most was the fact that even on smoggy days, people still lived their lives as usual," said Chinese film director Jia Zhangke last week as the air outside in Beijing was a thick, soupy grey.

Beijing, 22 January 2015 - One of China’s most celebrated filmmakers, Jia Zhangke, today released a short film commissioned by Greenpeace East Asia tackling the health effects of air pollution on Chinese families. The film challenges China to...

In an effort to deal with air pollution and make up for insufficient natural gas supplies in the east, China has been pushing a coal-to-gas program that has been fraught with debate because of the pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that...